Dr. Daniel Biles, associate professor in the Math & Computer Science Department, recently had two papers accepted for publication. “Nystrom methods and singular second-order differential equations,” which was co-authored with David Benko, Mark P. Robinson and John S. Spraker, was recently published in Computers and Mathematics with Applications. The same group also was recently published in Mathematical and Computer Modelling for the article titled “Numerical approximation for singular second-order differential equations.”
Entrepreneurship Student Presents at Nascent 500 Business Plan Challenge
Entrepreneurship student Julie Zaloba recently presented a business plan for “Julie’s Café” at the Nascent 500 Business Plan Challenge hosted by Ball State University’s Entrepreneurship Center. Zaloba’s plan was selected as one of 12 top collegiate entrepreneurial ventures invited to the annual competition held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500.
The Nascent 500 is an opportunity for undergraduate students from around the world to hone their entrepreneurial skills and compete for cash prizes by presenting their original business plans to a panel of nationally recognized judges. The twelve students/student teams selected to compete received $500 per team member to defray the cost of travel. They then had just 500 seconds (one lap) in the back of a limousine slowly circling the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to pitch their business idea to three judges followed by an additional 500 seconds in “the pits” to answer questions from these same judges.
Upon completing her pitch and taking in the overall experience Zaloba noted, “This was a first rate experience allowing me to interact at a level of professionalism that I could only have dreamed of. I learned a lot from the feedback I received from the investor judges, which is ultimately going to make my business plan even stronger as I continue to move forward in this entrepreneurial process.”
Dr. Mark Schenkel, assistant professor of entrepreneurship, added, “The opportunity for Julie to present her venture at this year’s Nascent 500 competition was an amazing accomplishment in its own right given the level of competition the event draws annually. It is also reflection of Julie’s talent, personal drive and prospects for her venture, Julie’s Cafe.”
Belmont Junior Wins Professional Video Award
Junior Jessica Walker recently won a 2009 Bronze Telly Award, one of the most prestigious professional awards in video and film production. Walker, a journalism major with a concentration in broadcast, won in the news/news feature category for her BelmontVISION.com news reporting compilation.
“Jessica puts maximum effort into everything she does,” said New Century Journalism instructor Stephan Foust. “This well-deserved international award reflects that effort and illustrates how anything is possible when you pursue a dream with determination and intelligence.”
The 30th Annual Telly Awards received more than 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 30 countries around the world. Entrants included professional production companies, in-house creative departments, ad agencies and television stations. Click on the play button below to see a sample of Walker’s work with her recent coverage of Fitness Day.
Lind, Students Present Research at Math Conference
Dr. Joan Lind, assistant professor in the Math & Computer Science department, along with students Sarah Claiborne and Cat Simpson, attended the 2009 Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (CURM) Spring conference in Provo, Utah March 20-21. CURM is the agency which awards mini-grants to professors and teams of undergraduate students to conduct year-long undergraduate research projects in mathematics. One of the goals of the conference is to showcase the mathematical research supported by CURM. Since Dr. Lind and her students were awarded a 2008/2009 CURM grant, they presented a talk about their research titled “Discovering the Curve-Creating Black Box.”
Pharmacy Students Assist Feed the Children
Fourteen members of the American Pharmacy Association student chapter, led by Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr. Kinsley Kiningham, spent Sat., March 21 in service at Feed the Children in Nashville. They packed nearly 500 boxes (approximately 12 pallets) of hygiene products for distribution to persons in need, locally and beyond. Student participants included Laura Hays, Bounchanh Souriyavong, Courtney Sowels, Cassidy Domagalla, Jackie Deal, Donny Mai, Benson Chiong, Lee Rembert, Zac Renfro, Catherine Williams, Lindsey Archer, Lindsay Locke, Chris McKnight and Ali Foster.
Social Work Students, Faculty Attend National Conference
Social work majors Michelle Barnett, Elizabeth Brown, Claire Godwin, Whitney Harold and Jimmy Smith joined their professors to attend the Association of Baccalaureate Program Directors annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. The conference theme was “The Future is Now,” which showcased the infusion of innovation and technology in social work practice. In addition to serving as conference volunteers, students attended a variety of workshops and met with dozens of graduate program representatives.
McCullough Enchants Large Crowd with History Lesson
David McCullough, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and New York Times’ best-selling author, appeared Monday night to more than 3,000 people in the Curb Event Center arena, enchanting them all with his charm, historical knowledge, educational philosophy and, surprisingly, even his singing. The final keynote presenter in Belmont’s “Art of Being Free” lecture series celebrating the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate, McCullough spoke on “Leadership and the History You Don’t Know.” The crowd was populated by numerous special guests including Mayor Karl Dean, former Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist and McCullough’s wife, Rosalie.
McCullough, who opened his remarks by commenting on how smitten he was with Nashville, focused his attention on the need for a much stronger emphasis on history in children’s education. He noted that revitalizing history education in the U.S. is part of his life’s mission because it is through the lens of history that Americans can truly find identity. “The history of our country is the most enthralling subject imaginable, but it’s often made tedious and irrelevant… We’re raising children in every part of the country who are by and large historically illiterate.”
Quoting from Dr. Margaret McFarland, the mentor of Fred Rogers, McCullough said, “What matters most in the classroom is attitude, and attitude isn’t taught, it’s caught.” Rather than increased salaries alone, McCullough advocated that educators deserve more respect and should be required to major in a subject, becoming experts in a specific area of knowledge beyond education alone. Still, he also strongly encouraged that education must occur outside classrooms; parents and families must actively engage. “We have to show [our children] what we love.”
Ninth Annual Family Literacy Day Set for April 4
‘Read With Me’ event, book giveaway 1-4 p.m. in Edgehill’s Rose Park
Belmont University’s Ninth Annual Family Literacy Day will take place, rain or shine, on Sat., April 4 from 1-4 p.m. at Rose Park in the Edgehill community. The event, called “Read With Me,” is aimed at children from pre-K through grade 6 and their families and is designed to celebrate the joys of reading with a free afternoon of interactive story times, crafts and games. The primary focus of the event is Reading Circles, hosted by various campus groups such as the Student Government Association, fraternities and sororities, the Black Student Alliance and the Student Athlete Council. Each group picks a different theme and offers a variety of books for all ages.
Tim Stewart, Belmont’s director of service-learning, said, “Every year, more and more Belmont groups and students get involved. This year we’re especially excited to have Book ‘Em, Dollar General and General Mills as sponsors since their new partnership will provide free books on Saturday to hundreds of kid in attendance.”
In addition, there will be drawings for a variety of door prizes, as well as balloons, face-painting and plenty of fun to go around. Other sponsors and supporters of the event include Metro Parks, Better World Books and the PENCIL Foundation.
Belmont’s Family Literacy Day is but one of many components of the Belmont Volunteers for Literacy program, which includes ongoing tutoring programs at Carter-Lawrence School, Sevier Park Community Center and English tutoring with children and adults through the YMCA Hispanic Achievers program. Family Literacy Day is designed to serve as a celebration of the year’s activities, giving the children and student participants of the ongoing programs a chance to have fun and reflect on their accomplishments. It also serves as a way of encouraging additional Belmont students, faculty and staff to get involved in the literacy effort in the community. For additional information about Belmont’s Family Literacy Day, click here or contact Tim Stewart at 615-460-5431 or stewartt@mail.belmont.edu.
Belmont Supports ‘Earth Hour’ With Darkened Campus
A picture’s worth a thousand words… and when it comes to “Belmont Unplugged,” the university’s celebration of the worldwide Earth Hour on March 28, the before-and-after pictures tell the whole story. Click on the “more” link below to see photos from Saturday night’s campus event.
Belmont and student organization Service Corps celebrated Earth Hour by hosting a special event featuring live acoustic performances from student acts Chadasha and Robert Kelly. The March 28 Earth Hour was a global movement in which millions of people around the world turned out their lights from 8:30-9:30 p.m. local time to make a statement of concern about the planet and climate change. The Belmont celebration took place on the sixth floor of the Curb Event Center garage, providing a perfect view of the downtown Nashville skyline.
CEMB to Present New Advising Center Model at Conference
The success of Curb College Advising Center, a new model of academic advising, will be the topic of a presentation given by Tina Dishman (Advising Center Director), Carolyn Burress (Advising Center Administrative Coordinator) and Dean Wesley Bulla at the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Region 3 conference in Charleston, W.Va. on May 18-20. Before the new model was instituted, CEMB’s 16 faculty advisors could not schedule the college’s 1,400 students in the traditional academic advising model of a week and a half. In the Advising Center, faculty spend two hours every week advising students in addition to scheduled appointments during regular academic advising. This new year-round advising model has resulted in a student satisfaction rate of nearly 100 percent.
